Fabrication of High-aspect-ratio Hard X-ray Zone Plates with HSQ Plating Molds

Fresnel zone plates are important x-ray diffractive optics which offer a focusing resolution approaching the theoretical limit. In hard x-ray region, the refractive indices of all the materials are close to unity, which requests thick zone plate to achieve a reasonable efficiency. It makes high-resolution zone plate extremely difficult to fabricate due to its high aspect ratio. We report a LIGA-like fabrication process employing e-beam resist HSQ as the plating mold material, which is relative simply compared with traditional processes. 1-μm-thick gold zone plates with 80-nm-wide outermost zone have been fabricated with this process.